June 2010

The season and the question of time

How time flies! No, it doesn’t. How can time possibly fly? What am I writing? Time is Master of itself and it is we who can adjust to experience and enjoy it to the full if we so wish - and if we are capable of so doing! The hours of the day are made for we as mankind and not vice versa. It is for we ourselves to make the most of all, even to understand the essence of time and gather its gifts.
In tourism parlance ‘high season’ is a popular refrain but not less important is the other season which is just finishing – and that is the season of silence.

In a certain sense it is a little like perfecting a sculpture: you need to take away and not necessarily add to. Remove the lights and the fittings various, put away the snow cats and snow making machines. That season has gone. There is a time and place for everything on this earth and now the season has changed.
Just recently there has been that leisurely time to stroll down to the village, read the papers, and hear the concerns of the farmers upset by the lack of water and the consequent growth of a too robust grass, not that fine and delicate type that the cows love so much and which results in enriching the milk with a fatty consistency.
Also to our life itself a little less of superficial concerns and embellishments would not be a bad thing. Why not allow the joy and talents we have inside glow and prosper a little bit more?
As usual it is The Dolomites which teach us a lesson or two. August is a case in point, the heart of the high season when noise can be the order of the day – motorbikes hurtling up and down the valley, mothers desperate for help fearful of the harm done to her young one through touching a bit of goat faeces. Yet, take a step or two away from the most visited paths and you can find the real season. No longer the need to share the congestion but a peace and sincerity which comforts and draws you to the true wonders of Nature. The silence of the ‘Pale Peaks’ takes you to another high of emotion.
The dawn of the new season beckons the tourist. The fox will pay a visit to the vegetable patch overturning a well laid plant or two and then there is the joy of spotting a deer or two at first light wandering down from the heights of nearby Col Alto (perhaps attracted by the delicious aroma of raspberry omelette slowly baking!) but these in essence are but the essential components of Nature
So you see it is the seasons and the time they offer which are ours to enjoy.
How lucky …one might say. Yes, indeed, it is a joy to indulge in silence at times, and in keeping with our thought every Wednesday in our celebrated restauarant Stüa de Michil silence will reign. Yes, your lips and our lips will be sealed and the very silence will add to our smiles, our gestures, our exchanges, and to our sense of taste itself. Seeing is believing they say and in this instance we might add experiencing is understanding. We welcome you with open arms.
Our best wishes to you, to enjoy many wonderful seasons, but above all to experience the present moment in a happy and committed way.